HARTFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY
Reprint
City reaps retail rewards
By Cara Baruzzi
Monday,, May 13, 2002
 Key members in bringing a 167,000-square-foot Wal-Mart to Hartford as part of the forthcoming Charter Oak Marketplace are, from left, Juan Colon, special assistant to John Wardlaw, executive director of the Hartford Housing Authority; Harry Freeman, executive director of the Hartford Economic Development Commission; Hartford Deputy Mayor Veronica Airey-Wilson; and Wardlaw.
“It really has to do with the influx of national retailers that formerly didn’t have a presence in Hartford,” said William Beckeman, a partner at Massachusetts-based Finard & Co. LLC, a commercial real estate services company. “We’ll see continued expansion of these retailers in the marketplace.”
Greater Hartford has a higher level of retail space per capita than many other markets, including Greater Boston, Beckeman said. It added another 1.6 million square feet of new space last year, according to the spring 2002 Finard Report. The gain is due largely to the construction of new stores, equaling 1.5 million square feet of retail space.
Manchester had the most new stores built, representing 16 percent of the overall increase. Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, Babies ‘R Us and DSW Shoe Warehouse all built new stores there.
According to Finard, discount stores added the most square feet. Target led the way with three new stores in New Britain, Manchester and Enfield, totaling 371,000 square feet. Wal-Mart followed with two new stores adding 226,000 square feet.
But while national retailers increased their presence in the suburbs, they have not forgotten about the city of Hartford.
“There really are opportunities in the city,” said Harry Freeman, executive director of the Hartford Economic Development Commission. Freeman was instrumental — along with the Hartford Housing Authority and developer CBL & Associates Properties Inc. — in brokering a deal that will bring a new Wal-Mart to Hartford’s Flatbush Avenue.
“For many years retailers fled the city,” Freeman said, adding retailers need to be aware of Hartford’s assets, such as an available workforce and strong corporate culture.
“In suburbs, frequently, people are trying to keep out the large retailers,” he said. “(But) the residents of Hartford don’t want to leave the city to go shopping.”
One reason Manchester retail is able to grow faster than Hartford’s is a greater amount of available land, said Timothy McNamara, a commercial real estate broker at SullivanHayes Cos. in Farmington.
“We’re not always the first area in the country targeted by retailers,” McNamara said. “Hartford is usually the in-fill between Boston and New York.”
McNamara expects the forthcoming Evergreen Walk shopping complex in South Windsor to attract high-end retailers who generally prefer to set up shop in towns like Glastonbury.
In 2001, Greater Hartford saw its biggest decline in vacancy — 507,000 square feet — over the past five years, according to the Finard report. It was the only New England region studied that had a decline in vacancy. This was despite the bankruptcy-induced closings of Bradlees Department Stores in Hartford, Manchester and Enfield. In total, retailers vacated 280,000 square feet. Retailers re-tenanted 966,000 square feet, mostly from three former Caldors locations replaced by Wal-Mart in New Britain and Avon and Kohl’s in Enfield.
While big-name chain stores led retail expansion in and around Hartford, local businesses have not been neglected. More than 50 small “Mom and Pop” businesses have opened in the city since last July, Freeman said.
Downtown areas across the state have seen growth, said John Simone, executive director of the Connecticut Main Street Center. The center represents nine Downtowns in the state, including East Hartford, Simsbury, Upper Albany and Windsor.
Since the program’s inception in 1996, the nine Downtowns have seen a 76 percent increase in private investment and a 94 percent increase in public investment. Net new jobs increased by 42 percent and net new businesses are up 118 percent, Simone said.
“All of our Downtowns thrive by having a mixed use,” he said. The areas depend on shops customers can walk among and are not looking to attract big-box department stores that take up an entire city block. “You wouldn’t have the same type of diversity.”
In Hartford, there has been significant interest from all over the country from retailers of all sizes, said Denise Whitford, corporate project manager at the Hartford Economic Development Commission.
“What we’re doing in the city of Hartford ... is changing the whole feeling of Hartford,” Freeman said. “It’s almost like people have gotten down on the city. We’re trying to change that.”
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